This is my third year sharing my plans and goals with you here, friends. This truly helps me to stay accountable and on task throughout the year. While I don’t like putting off starting things for the new year and while it isn’t the only time it is good to do so, I find that at the beginning of each new year we are given a new opportunity to reflect and consider our dreams , plans and goals. It is a time after the holiday rush to slow down for a couple of days to reflect on the past year and consider the possibilities for a new year. I was once told that, as living creatures, if we are not growing and changing we are dying. As I get older I like to think that I am still growing and becoming more wise and helpful to those who come behind me rather than just waiting for my end to come so I can start a new beginning.

I know that there is a lot of debating about whether you should make resolutions, set new year goals or create systems and put actions into place. I believe once we resolve to do something, we should start immediately. I believe it will get stuck if we put it off to begin another day. Also, I see the point that goals are a way for many people, once a goal is met, just to say, “Ok, I did that, and now I can return to what I was doing before;” if that is the case, what was the point of setting/doing the goal other than a “yeah, I did that (uh… once).” What works for me is a little of all these things. I am constantly resolving to change behaviors to make myself better than I was the day before. These changes help me to achieve the goals I have set. Having SMART goals so that I can check up on myself throughout the year is a good way to gauge my progress and make sure that I am continuing to push forward rather than returning to my old habits and processes. Putting into place systems and refining the processes I have keeps me on track and moving to a better things.

So, for 2014, I have several things I want to focus on, and I have identified goals and processes that follow along with each.

1. To Be Stronger – I have started weight training, and I love it. I have always been a strong woman, but I want to be stronger. My goal is to continue to weight train and lift twice a week throughout the new year to accomplish this. My current weight lifting numbers are Bench 80lbs, Overhead 70lbs, Squat 105lbs , Deadlift 175lbs. I am new enough to lifting that I don’t have a specific max target yet, but I definitely want to improve/increase my strength, and I may set more specific timed goals.

2. To Be Faster – I want to continue working on being able to “Run” a 5k. I will participate in multiple opportunities throughout the year via live and virtual runs. Each week I plan to push myself on the “dreadmill” to run and work on this at least 2 days a week.

3. To Be Smarter – This year I would like to learn more about exercise mechanics and anatomy. I plan to study and sit for a physical training certification. This is not because I want to get a job in the field, and I do not even plan to do so. This is because I want more knowledge to be able to use it in my own training, to understand how my body is (and should be) working, and to help others through this blog.

4. To Be Leaner – I want to meet my ultimate weight-loss goal of 170lbs. I am 30lbs away from this goal and believe that this year I can accomplish this, if I work hard toward it.

5. To Be Wiser – I want to understand what is in my food and make choices that are in line with my goals. The Mamavation community is a huge help with this. There are so many things we eat without understanding what they do to our bodies. I want to become more aware of the content of food I eat and feed my family, and to make informed decisions that sort through the hype (both “for” and “against” different foods).

6. To Be Healthier – I want to understand my health better and do all I can to improve it. I commit to care for my family the best way possible with their (and my) spiritual training, food, and activities.

Are you setting goals for the New Year? What types of goals do you like to set? How do you like to keep track and check the progress of your goals throughout the year?

Many of you may know that I have applied to be a Mamavation Mom for the new campaign. You can watch my application video here or view it below and Tweet in support of my candidacy { support Dee’s campaign by tweeting “@Bookieboo I want @lumpytoleandee to be the next#mamavation mom!” }. I would love to be selected as I know they would really help me get a jump start on my goals, but if I am not chosen, I know these goals will help me keep me on track. Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Wow, I can’t believe 2012 is over. Unfortunately I’m not finishing the year off physically any better than I began. I’m making a change starting now. I’ve decided to go back to the gym for my water classes at least two days a week and possibly going back to Zumba. I’m also seriously debating the 30 day shred again. I applied for the #IHeartOmron fitness challenge through Mamavation and will find out in a few days if I’m one of the 25 bloggers picked for the campaign. My plans are not solid yet as to how I will do this, but I really do want to lose 65 pounds this year. That’s 1.25 pounds per week and I think that’s a pretty attainable goal.

Sorry this is kind of a jumble. As you can tell my thoughts aren’t very clear, but I hope to have some more solid plans and goals by the end of the week.

Wow! I can come up with a million of them. Anything from “I was up all night” or “I am just not feeling it” to “The baby has a runny nose and can’t go into childcare”. Although each of these things may be true, what we have to remember is that an excuse is only that an excuse. It is something that keeps us from doing what we know we should. Excuses can be worked around. There is an alternative and a way to still get in that workout. The baby can’t go into childcare, but maybe when dad gets home you can run into the gym for a little while. Or you can load the baby into the stroller and go for a great long walk. Or who needs the gym at all during nap time when you can take 30 minutes to do a great at home workout. The bottom line is “do I want this?” If so, I am the only one who can make it happen and “I can make it happen”.

We should not confuse excuses with reasons. An injury, illness, or unavoidable issue that we cannot work around is a good reason to skip a workout. With reasons for missing a workout, we can’t shift the time or change the method we work out with to make it happen. But, it’s tempting sometimes to fool myself into believing an excuse it a reason. Then, I just have to step back and evaluate: Is this an excuse? or Is it an actual reason I cannot workout? What are my priorities? and Do I want the weight-loss bad enough to do all I can to get there? If the answer is “no” then I need to change my mental state and find out what is holding me back. I think that is true for each of us.

Sometimes knowing what to do seems easy, but putting it into practice is the hardest part. When we know what we should do, but keep failing to do it, we need to find what is holding us back. We can do this. We just need to find the motivation that really gets us going. It is going to get better! We just need to buckle down and make strides. Each moment is a choice, and we can’t beat ourselves up for a bad one. Instead, we must live in the present, put a bad choice in the rear-view, learn from it, and make the appropriate choices going forward.

Last week I went to BlogHer in New York City. Now I haven’t been watching what I do for a while. I actually gained back all 15 pounds I had lost at the beginning of the year. Right before leaving for BlogHer I was down 5 pounds again. I decided, though, that I’m not going to start trying again until I get home from vacation next week. As you can see, my friend Lisa and I enjoyed a few treats while we were gone. I came home 9 pounds up! Whoops! I’m sure it’s not all food, though. I tend to retain water when I travel and last night proved it. I was at the Cub Scout Olympics for my son and had to wear gym shoes. My feet swelled up so big that it hurt to keep my shoes on. I think I’m starting to stabilize now, though. I stepped on the scale this morning and I’ve lost 2 of the 9 I gained.

While in New York, though, I wasn’t just eating junk. I did a workout class with Bowflex on their new Core Body Reformer. I fell in love with it and really want to get one for home. It’s kind of like doing exercises on a balance beam so that you’re working on your core the entire time that you’re working out as well. They gave some away during the class. Lisa was lucky and got one, I did not. That’s not all I did, though. I walked, a LOT. Between Wednesday and Sunday I walked 31.19 miles. I actually walked more before I got home early Monday morning but it’s too hard to break that out of the whole day Monday to figure it out. Since coming home, as you can imagine, I’ve been sitting as much as possible. I’m starting to feel too lazy, though. It’s time for me to get moving again. Good thing I’m packing today and we leave for vacation tomorrow. I never sit still on vacation no matter how much I want to relax. I can’t wait to come share my weight loss story as I start living it again soon!

I am finding myself severely lacking a very key piece of any good exercise program, diet plan or lifestyle change of any kind. That piece is Motivation! I find it harder and harder to make myself just get up and go just because it is hard to make it happen. I know how much better I feel when I do get a good workout. I have good experiences each time I go yet, I still am just not finding that motivating factor to keep me pushing. I think before it was the friendships that I enjoyed with the girls at the gym that kept me going even when I wasn’t in the mood. With my strange and sporadic workout times it isn’t possible to workout with those people any longer. Things that were getting easier are now much more difficult again. After slacking off for so long I just don’t have the endurance I had before. I don’t know what it is but I am for sure not feeling it right now. I have to do some serious searching and find the this piece that will keep me going. I will not give up.

Do you have a motivating force? I’d love to hear what keeps you working toward your goal.

So I got this cool new tool that you wear throughout the day — even while sleeping — and it shows you the actual calories you burn through the day.One of the neatest things about it is it also shows how long you actually sleep. It can tell the difference between just lying down and actual sleep. I was eager to see what this would show. I know with an infant who doesn’t yet sleep through the night that my sleep is never as long as it should be, but I was curious how much actual sleep I was getting. Sadly it is way too little, and now I understand exactly why I am tired all the time. While I am in bed for 8hrs or more I only “sleep” from 4 1/2 to 6hrs each night and that is total time. I rarely have more than 2 hours of sleep straight.

I know that this lack of sleep is not good. I find myself throughout the day wanting more sugar and caffeine to keep me going. I also found this interesting article on WedMD. The most interesting and relevant bit is this: “Ghrelin is the ‘go’ hormone that tells you when to eat, and when you are sleep-deprived, you have more ghrelin. Leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating, and when you are sleep deprived, you have less leptin. More ghrelin plus less leptin equals weight gain.”
While I do not know if the information here is perfectly accurate, it made a lot of sense. I know I need more sleep and while I do not know what to do to get it, because I have to wake up to feed the baby. Now, at least I am aware that I need more sleep to keep my appetite controlled. Also, I need to be cautious of during the day to keep myself focused and not giving in to the temptation to fill my day with sweets and things that will keep the cycle going.

Well it has been an interesting week and I have done a lot of thinking on this topic. I have decided that for the time being I am going to keep my goals small and implement change where I can. Once my baby boy gets a little older I will be able to do so much more because his routines will smooth out. Right now we still are taking it day by day. So, for the next 2 months, my goal is to only lose 10lbs and get back on track eating healthy. I am looking at some new tools that will hopefully get me moving in the right direction. My focus during these 2 months is not going to be on the weight. While I would love to lose more, I am going to work more on doing the things and getting back into habits that are going to help me ultimately do better in the long run.

So my goals and plans for implementing them for the 1st quarter of 2012 are to:
1. Start logging my food and exercise again regularly. My fitness center has a new benefit for members where we can use an online system called dotFIT without additional cost. I want to get in the habit of logging my food and exercise on this system and give it a couple of months to determine if I want to stick with it or go back to another online logging tool. When I can’t log immediately I will make a note and add the information at a convenient time. I know how important logging is and I know that recording my daily food and exercise will help me to pay attention and make better choices.
2. Workout 3-5 days a week, when I can. I have some wonderful friends who are helping me get back to the gym until my baby is old enough to enter the daycare at my fitness center. While it may not be the 1-2hrs a day I was doing before having a baby, it is a workout and I am thankful for each one I get.
3. Be truthful with myself. This is in food intake primarily. I do not need a treat just because I worked out. I have to make sure that I am accountable for each thing I eat and do not fudge the numbers or overestimate, because the only person I hurt in doing so is myself.
4. Learn one new thing and share via blogging once a week. While I would love to make a 5 day plan and really get back into blogging here I know it is a lot to take on. My goal for now is to blog once a week. I have some things I am wanting to research and will enjoy sharing. By doing so it will help me to stay focused and motivated.
5. Take it one day at a time. I know I will have issues trying to keep up with it all. I must be patient and forgiving of myself when I do fail. Each day is its own and if I make the wrong decisions on one day it doesn’t set me on the wrong course. I can always make the right one the next time.

I will reassess these on April 1st and implement new goals based on our routines and schedules.

So… I disappeared… AGAIN. 3 weeks ago I finally got the call to start work. Along with that came trying to work, sleep, take care of my family, cook, clean, breathe, etc. Weight Watchers was NOT a priority. Yesterday, though, I sat down and meal planned for the week. While they may not be the most weight loss friendly recipes, at least I have a PLAN. No more floating. No more McDonald’s or Dunkin Donuts breakfasts. I plan to weigh in on Wednesday, one way or another. (I’ve been working during my morning meeting time and Buddy had soccer during the evening time.) So if I can’t make it to either meeting this week, I’ll weigh in on my scale and that will be official. Last time I got on the scale I was surprisingly only up 1 pound and everything is still getting more loose on me. I had to buy more work pants because my first pair were falling off of me after my belt broke. (cheap belt!) When I went shopping I found I was down a size, almost 2!! It really motivated me to want to keep going.

Part of the reason I’m working is to pay off debt and I feel bad paying for Weight Watchers while I’m not using it. I keep going to the site to cancel and then I get this overwhelming guilt. So I haven’t canceled. I plan to get back on track.

If you have any work friendly/diet friendly recipes and ideas, please please share!

That’s all I wanted this morning when I woke up. Unfortunately I woke up with a sick tummy and didn’t make it to Weight Watchers this week. I never did share from last week, but I was up 1 pound. Considering all I ate the week before, that pound does not bother me. Heck, I was not on plan this last week, either. I will do better this week. I need some motivation. I need some hugs. I need some kicks in the butt. Our schedule will be getting back to normal for now, but will change very shortly. I’ll be going back to work part time within the next few weeks. I’ll be working VERY early in the mornings and will probably be looking for on the go meals. If you have any good ideas, please leave me a comment below. If you’d like to hug me or kick me, go ahead and leave me a comment as well.

So between the nasty Groundhog Day blizzard and other circumstances, I took the week off of Weight Watchers. I feel like crap! I haven’t eaten well since Tuesday of last week. I can feel it. I’m tired, run down, feeling angry… So tomorrow morning is weigh in and I’m back on track then. I also found out that while drinking Diet Sunkist that it has caffeine in it. I’m totally sensitive to caffeine and have no figured out why my migraines are back and why I have had foggy head. So back to just plain ice water for me. Sigh. I know soda isn’t good for you at all, but it was nice to have the option of a little cold flavor now and then. I don’t like flavored waters. I’ll still have my decaf lattes that I make on my Tassimo.

I hope those of you that are out there dieting are doing better than I have this week! I can’t wait to get my groove back tomorrow!

About Lumpy to Lean

We have created this site as a cooperative effort in order to encourage each other, as well as all others who are interested in a change in lifestyle for weight loss and fitness. We will not focus on a specific diet or workout regime. We will be discussing and trying various methods, products, workouts, and philosophies to find what works for each of us. We believe that each individual is different and something that works well for one may not work for another. All of our opinions and observations are our own, and we only hope that others will find them beneficial in their own journey.